Lincoln County Board approves updated ambulance agreement with Merrill

The Lincoln County Board has approved a new ambulance service agreement with the City of Merrill, which would replace a contract that has been in place since 2007.
The Board passed the resolution at its regular meeting Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026, according to a joint statement from Lincoln County Board Chair Don Friske and Merrill Mayor Steve Hass. The agreement was scheduled to go before the City of Merrill Committee of the Whole on Tuesday, Oct. 27, for review and final approval.
City and County officials have been negotiating the contract for several months.
Under the new terms, the County would pay a base cost of $1.6 million beginning in 2027, with a 2% increase each year to account for inflation. The County’s 2026 budget for the service is $1.32 million.
The updated agreement also drops requirements in the old contract that tied funding to specific positions and equipment. According to the statement, that change gives the City more flexibility in how it staffs and equips its emergency medical services (EMS) operations, as it handles rising call volumes and more frequent overlapping emergency calls.

The County will continue to supply ambulances to both Merrill and Tomahawk on the existing replacement schedule.
Wisconsin law does not require counties to provide EMS. That responsibility belongs to individual municipalities. Lincoln County has coordinated and administered EMS on behalf of local municipalities since 1969.
Merrill Fire & EMS covers the southern part of the County, and Aspirus Health covers the northern part (Tomahawk).
In the statement, officials from both governments said the existing agreement no longer reflects current staffing models, operating demands, and financial conditions. They described the goal of the update as long-term sustainability and fiscal responsibility to County taxpayers.